Scott says he’s staying.

The way I look at is, for one thing, he was hired around age 55 or so, he's probably building up a fair amount of PERS benefits (not like how it could have been under earlier tiers) and can continue to pad those until he retires.

More importantly, he's probably got what he must think is an interesting challenge ahead with whatever maneuvers he's cooking up for the athletic department.

This is kind of a big deal. We've got a couple posters here who seem to think OSU athletics doomed or seriously compromised. I'd suspect that if Barnes felt that at all, UW, or almost anywhere else, would have been a very promising way out for him.

Until we hear he's actively seeking a way out, I have to believe he believes good things are ahead for OSU athletics.

Yeah hope it's not a 'famous last words' moment...or say he does jump ship to UW and says...F it...we are staying in the Pac 12...yes I know super not gonna happen

Those early tiers were probably too generous in at least some cases. Bellotti's retirement money is nuts. I don't know what is currently going on, but it's nothing like that these days from what I've heard.

You can't just single out Bellotti when Pat Casey is in the top 5 of PERS earners.

PERS


The rest of the top 5 are all OHSU doctors.

With respect to Barnes, he's 61 years old, so closing in on retirement. My guess would be that he has decided that he'd rather finish up fighting the good fight, and the just fight, rather than be remembered as throwing in with the traitors when the opportunity was presented to do so. Whatever his motivation, good for him.

With respect to PERS, I don't know much about it, as I was already retired when I moved to Oregon. But I have heard people say that benefits can be too high because they guarantee your contributions will grow at 8% a year (or something along those lines).

If so, that's not an unreasonable assumption. Monies deposited into a defined benefit pension plan are meant to grow for a long, long time. Since January 1, 1917, money invested in the S&P 500 for any 40 year period will have averaged a return of right around 11.1% per year, with the worst return (1/1/29 - 12/31/68) being 8.83% per year.

Riley was either a Tier II or Tier III PERS employee when he was hired in 2003. He only worked 12-13 years in the system, so his benefits are not anywhere near Bellotti's. He gets no credit for 1997-98 because too many years had passed between his state employment.

PERS often is used as a convenient strawman by those who do not like public employees. Clearly there were some problems with Tier I, those have been addressed. Also be advised that public employees were asked to take PERS benefits in leu of raises sometime in the 1980s.

I am not a PERS recipient. 

In 1975 Oregon State's Athletic Director, Jim Barratt, quit to become a part owner of a travel agency.   Kind of an odd lateral move for someone who had been a very successful AD and couldn't have been older than about 50.  Should have suspected what Barratt probably suspected--that trouble was ahead for OSU athletics under MacVicar.